


Class A

by labellebeaucoup



Category: Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2017-03-09
Packaged: 2018-02-05 17:17:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1826035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/labellebeaucoup/pseuds/labellebeaucoup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, even Angels lose their way and when that happens who saves THEM? An Ezria fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Too Cold Outside

Class A

Chapter One: Too Cold Outside

**New York City, January 2013-**

            Large, fluffy snowflakes slowly drifted through the dark, night sky to the sidewalk below. Bright lights twinkled, lighting up the city that never sleeps. Even in the dead of the night, throngs of people travelled the grey, grimy sidewalks that were slowly losing ground to the snow raining down on them. A strong gust of wind whipped the long coats of the people on the sidewalk, causing them to pull their warm coats closer to their bodies and hurry their steps in search of a warm building somewhere.

            In the mist of all the hustle and bustle under the city skyline, no one noticed the thin, pale face of a young girl huddled against a brick wall in a dark, dirty alley. The small woman-child sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, her knotted, chocolate brown hair nearly covering her face. Large, hungry hazel eyes stared longingly out into the street. The girl pushed the nest of hair out of her face as she noticed a pair of shiny, black Oxfords come to a halt in front of her. She slowly lifted her head and looked up into the face of yet another successful businessman who, like the others, probably couldn’t find happiness at home. Either that or his wife wasn’t willing to do what _he_ wanted. Those were the only reasons men like that ever came to this part of the city.

            “Two-hundred okay?” The man tossed the offer out as if this were an everyday occurrence for him, flashing the cash in front of her eager eyes.

            The girl shook her head ever so slightly. Two-hundred would get her through another day. She hadn’t had much work in the past week and the withdrawal was slowly killing her, torturing her. Her insomnia had gotten the best of her since the last time she had managed to feed her addiction, nearly four days ago.

            “Meet me in the restroom of the restaurant across the street,” The man ordered, turning on his heel and walking away. Near the opening to the alley, he turned to call softly, “I’ll give you five minutes.”

            The girl watched with emotionless eyes as the man left the alley, heading in direction of the restaurant he had mentioned. She knew his suggestion of a quick rendezvous in some restaurant was degrading, but the allure of her addiction was calling to her. She slowly stood, the large, baggy shirt engulfing her tiny body. She rubbed her rosy fingers together, attempting to get some blood circulating in the icy body parts. She stretched, her lithe body bending backward as her bones popped some, before she started walking toward the opening of the alley.

            The bright light, coming from every building within the square, caused the petite girl to squint as she was faced with it for the first time that day. She attempted to pull her large shirt closer to her body as a gale of wind barreled down the sidewalk. She lowered her head, unable to look straight with the snow blowing the way it was; blinding her.

            She began slowly making her way through the crowded sidewalk, ignoring the disgusted looks of the women dressed in their finest business suits. The men were slightly more sympathetic, some even holding out change as she passed them. To each passerby who did this, she shook her head – she knew how to make her own way on the streets.  She sighed as she finally neared the edge of the sidewalk, lifting her head for the briefest moment to see if the flashing sign said she could cross the street or not.

            She briskly walked across the slick street, lost in the crowd, as the small man began flashing on the sign. She practically jogged the last few steps to the small restaurant, placing her hand on the brass door handle and quickly yanking the heavy green door open, rushing inside. The warm air coming from inside the restaurant hit her all at once, making a satisfied smile escape from her.

            One of the waitresses gave her a distasteful look, taking in the dirty clothes and hair, as she briskly walked to the back in direction of the restrooms. Coming to a halt in front of the two doors in the back, she took her time staring at each before finally deciding on the one marked by a tiny male figure. She shoved the door open and stepped inside the large, single bathroom – locking the door behind her.

            “A minute early, not bad,” A voice said from behind her. A look of guilt flashed across the girl’s face before she slowly turned around to face the man.

            “What do you want?” The girl casually asked, her voice a little hoarse from lack of use but holding the underlying of a melodious, sweet tone.

            “ _Everything_ ,” The man intoned, his voice holding promise as he continued with, “What’s your name, girl?”

            “Names aren’t necessary,” The girl responded with a flat voice, placing her hands on the edge of her large shirt and tugging it over her head. She shivered as she stood before the man, completely bare from the waist up. Her large, creamy breasts uncovered for him to feast his eyes on.

            “I need a name to call when I’m thrusting into that tight pussy of yours,” The man’s harsh voice demanded a name once more as a bulge began forming in his pants. His businesslike persona was fading with the ever approaching reality of satisfaction at the hands of this dirty, yet stunning girl.

            “It’s Aria,” She informed him, the musical name dancing off her lips as her hands moved to the buttons of her well-worn jeans.

            “Aria,” The man repeated, almost as if he were trying it out, “You can call me David.”

            “I told you: I do _not_ need names,” Aria bit out, pushing her now unbuttoned jeans down her thin legs and kicking them aside. Her panties soon followed and she was standing completely naked in front of David.

            “Too bad for you that _I_ happen to love names,” David returned, hinting at the fact that she wouldn’t be paid in full if _she_ didn’t use names.

            “Whatever,” She mumbled under her breath as she moved toward David, placing her hands on his shoulders to propel herself a few inches on her tip-toes before roughly forcing her mouth on his. A few seconds later, she had thrust her tongue into his mouth and was battling him for dominance. Their tongues dueled for what seemed like forever before Aria pulled away, gasping for air as she moved her hands to the buttons of David’s light grey dress shirt. She deftly undid the pearl white buttons before sliding the dress shirt from his body.

            “That’s a surprise,” She stated upon seeing his toned, muscled chest. She hadn’t been expecting that from a man like him. Instead, she had been expecting a pot belly much like those of her other patrons. Of course David, unlike the others, appeared to be much younger. He still had a head full of jet black hair and his dark blue eyes were unmarred by the appearance of crows’ feet.

            “More than you expected?” David asked with a hint of a smirk in his voice. No doubt he was one of those cocky assholes she despised…or used to despise back when she was still herself; back before she had met her so called friends, stayed up late partying, and dropped out of school to pursue her addiction.

            She began to think of something to say, but found she couldn’t. Every retort that fell on her tongue was something the _old_ Aria would say. She couldn’t risk that. The old Aria didn’t have to worry about making money to survive from day to day – she was a straight A student on a bright path. The _new_ Aria was a hungry, thin girl with an addiction to feed. She **_had_** to play nice.

            Deciding against opening her mouth and possibly losing a customer, she moved forward and knelt on her knees; the hard surface cold and unforgiving. She placed her hands on David’s steel belt buckle, quickly undoing the piece of metal before unzipping his pants and pulling them down his body, along with his boxers. She waited patiently as he stepped out of his shoes and pants before reaching forward to grasp his hard cock in her hand. She slowly began moving her hand along his rock hard length, watching as his eyes fluttered shut and his breathing began to quicken.

            “You like that?” She breathed, experience telling her exactly what to say and when to say it during situations like these.

            “Fuck,” He breathed as she moved forward, taking the tip of his penis into her warm mouth, twirling her tongue around his head. She moaned, despite not knowing this man and doing this on a regular basis, she felt herself getting wet for the first time in what seemed like months. Maybe it was the unusual hotness of this particular patron or the deep, lustful moans he was making, but she was soaking. She could feel her arousal dripping down her soft thighs.

            Her breathing depended as she relaxed her throat muscles, taking him deeper in her mouth. His hands moved from his sides to her hair, tangling themselves in the already tangled mass of chocolate brown. He could feel his balls tightening as she took him deeper, nearly hitting the back of her throat and swallowing.

            “Damn,” He gasped as he shot a steady stream of cum down her throat. He watched as she wiped her mouth before standing. He waited until she was once again on steady feet before backing her up toward the sink. She yelped slightly when her butt collided with the marble corner of the countertop.

            “Silence is a virtue,” David reminded her, placing his hands on her bony hips in a vice-like grip before lifting her slender body and seating her on the cool countertop.  A light blush covered Aria’s cheeks at the thought that she had been anything but robotic with a man for the first time since…she didn’t even dare to **_think_** his name.

            “Just shut up and fuck me already,” She demanded, for the first time in months feeling like the old Aria, but she couldn’t let **_that_** feeling last. That wasn’t her anymore.

            “With pleasure,” David smirked, moving forward and slamming into her with force, causing a loud gasp to escape from Aria’s plump lips.

            It wasn’t long before both were gasping loudly, a light sweat covering their foreheads as David continued pumping faster, harder. Aria could feel the tightening in her stomach as she began clenching her walls around David’s throbbing member. She threw her head back, her eyes squeezing shut, as she exploded around him.

            David buried his face in Aria’s neck as he came once more, stilling his movements and clinging to her. The two stayed that way for several moments, catching their breath. Finally, David pulled away and began collecting his clothes. As he was in the process of pulling his pants up, Aria slid off the countertop to find her jeans. She was hopping into the well-worn fabric, fastening the button, when she noticed David slipping a golden ring onto his finger.

            “Men,” She spat, shaking her head as she slipped her large shirt over her head.

            “Here,” David said, slipping a wad of cash into the back pocket of Aria’s jeans, grabbing her ass in the process, “Maybe I’ll see you again.”

            With that last statement, he walked out of the restroom leaving Aria alone. She reached into her back pocket, pulling out the wad of cash and flipping the green paper. She smiled to herself when she noticed that he had slipped an extra twenty into the original amount before she slid the money back into her pocket and headed out of the room.

            The waitress gave her a disgusted look as she walked past her in direction of the large, red door. She didn’t think twice about the waitress’ obvious disgust with her – she was beyond any form of emotional feeling at this point. She pushed the door open and stepped back out into the freezing snow. She slid her hands into her pockets and took off to the right.

            She walked for a half hour, pushing through the throngs of people that slowly dwindled down to a handful of people as she neared her destination. The clean, well-kept buildings that lined the sidewalks had long ago given way to desolate, crumbling brick buildings. Children ran through the deserted streets, shouting at one another even at this late hour. Trash littered the sidewalks – glass beer bottles causing walking to be a treacherous task.

            Aria turned down a dark alley that led to a wide open parking lot. A few fires burned in the far corners of the lot and one lone street light cast an eerie puddle in the middle of the cracked asphalt. She shoved her hands inside her sleeves and began walking toward the building at the far edge. A few people shouted their greetings, recognizing her regular face, as she placed a foot on the black iron of the staircase. She slowly climbed the stairs, ignoring those around her, until she reached the top floor.

            On the top floor, she took a left and walked until she had reached the last door. She knocked loudly and waited. She didn’t wait long before an ebony skinned man with long dreadlocks opened the door.

            “Aria,” The man exclaimed, his strong Jamaican accent making it difficult for the untrained ear to understand, “It’s about time you show up!”

            “Hey Demetrius,” Aria smiled, allowing the large man to throw his arms around her, pulling her inside and into a bear-hug.

            “You want the usual, dear?” Aaron, Demetrius’ partner ever since Aria had known him, shouted from the kitchen where he was downing a shot of vodka.

            “ **Is** there anything else?” Aria retorted, pulling the wad of cash from her pocket and throwing it at Demetrius.

            “Damn girl! Someone’s been working hard,” Demetrius whistled, taking the cash and disappearing off into a side room.

            “What have you been up to? It’s been days,” Aaron commented, coming from around the small counter in the kitchen and handing Aria a bottle of beer. She took a swig of the foul tasting liquid as she moved to the old, torn blue sofa and collapsed on the piece of furniture; the first time she had sat on something remotely comfortable for days.

            “Oh you know - same old same old. Trying to find work,” She shrugged, snuggling into Aaron’s open arms when he sat beside her on the couch.

            “A girl like you shouldn’t have trouble trying to find work,” Aaron said, beginning to lightly stroke her arm.

            “It’s Christmas, Aar, my regulars are too busy trying to make sure everything looks _perfect_ for their nice little dysfunctional families.” She let the bitterness creep into her voice as she took a large swig of the beverage in her hand. She didn’t normally admit that the men who came to her, cheating on their wives, bothered her. She felt like she couldn’t say too much – after all, she was selling her body to buy drugs.

            “Here you go babe,” Demetrius said, coming into the room with a bag full of a white, powdery substance.

            “Thanks dear,” Aria grinned, standing from the couch, grasping the baggie from Demetrius, and kissing him on the cheek.

            “Don’t stay away too long again,” Aaron said as Aria stared at the bag in her hands.

            “What makes you think I’m leaving already? How about a little party?” She raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner as she shook the bag in front of the men.

            “Hell yes,” Demetrius grinned, kissing Aria full on the lips before taking the baggie from her hands.

            “You two go get some drinks while I set us up here,” Aaron ordered, grapping the bag from Demetrius’ hands and shooing the two away. Aria followed Demetrius into the tiny kitchen. She found a tray under the sink and placed it on the counter before helping Demetrius place several small shot glasses on the tray and fill them with vodka.

            “You two almost done in there?” Aaron called as Aria was picking the tray up.

            “Get your panties out of a bunch,” Demetrius shouted back, following Aria from the kitchen with the bottle of vodka present in his hand.

            “I do the hard work and it takes me less time,” Aaron scoffed as Aria sat the tray down on the wooden coffee table in the room, on the opposite side of the lines of heroin Aaron had set up for them.

            “The hard work? I just had to help your dumbass boyfriend fill twelve shot glasses,” Aria shook her head.

            “Poor you,” Aaron laughed, brushing his hand against Demetrius’ cheek and whispering, “She didn’t mean it honey.”

            “Whatever,” Aria rolled her eyes as she moved toward the line in front of her. A satisfied smile left her lips at the first burning sensation of the drugs as it entered her nostrils. She felt a little better each time she moved down the line.

            “Aria!” She barely registered Demetrius’ yelling coming from behind her as she continued moving from one line to the next.

            “Aria, you need to s **top** ,” Aaron ordered, laying his hands on her arms and attempting to pull her away. She tried fighting at first; she had gone too long without her daily fix and was trying to make up for lost time.

            “What the hell are you thinking? Are you **_trying_** to overdose?” Demetrius demanded, roughly grasping her shoulders and shaking her. She could already feel her consciousness slipping out of her grasp. She wouldn’t be conscious much longer.

            “I think she might have,” Aaron practically whispered, staring at the table in front of him in shock.

            “What the hell?” Demetrius questioned, his voice rising with each word.

            “She’s **never** had this much before. **I’ve** never had this much before. She should probably go to the hospital,” Aaron stated, choosing at that moment to be the voice of reason.

            “We can’t take her to the hospital. They’ll question who we are, where she got the drugs from. We can’t risk that,” Demetrius nearly shouted, frustration slipping into his features.

            “We’ll tell them we found her on the street,” Aaron resolved, moving toward the door.

            “Look at us, Aaron! There is no fucking way they would believe that shitty ass story of yours,” Panic now filled Demetrius’ voice as Aria slouched against him.

            “Fine. We’ll just take her outside and I’m sure we’ll run into some goody two shoes who will be more than willing to rush her to the nearest hospital. She’s our friend, Demetrius. That’s the least we can do for her,” Aaron sighed, placing his hand on the doorknob.

            “Let’s get this over with,” Demetrius intoned, picking Aria’s thin body up and carrying her out the door. The trio carefully made their way down the iron stairs, slick from the snow and ice. No one spared them a second glance as they walked across the parking lot toward the sidewalk – this was too normal an occurrence for them.

            They walked several blocks before they finally came across a man that Aaron thought would fit their cause. The man was tall with dark hair. He was wearing black dress pants and a knee length grey, wool coat. He looked kind, but the best part about him was that he was locking the door to a Catholic school. Aaron decided to take a chance.

            “Excuse me, sir,” Aaron called, rushing up to the man.

            “Can I help you?” The man asked, turning around to fix Aaron with his icy blue stare.

            “My friend needs help,” Aaron simply explained, pointing to where Demetrius stood, holding a semi-conscious Aria who had begun shivering violently.

            “Um…let me see what I can do,” The man offered, following Aaron to where Demetrius stood in a well-lit part of the sidewalk. They knew that for their plan to work they had to appear trustworthy – or as trustworthy as they could, to the person they chose to help.

            “Here,” Demetrius said, handing Aria to the man when they approached, “She’s starting to get heavy, I don’t want to drop her.”

            The man narrowed his eyes at Aria, scrutinizing her appearance as if he knew who she was as he cradled her in his arms.

            “What happened?” He addressed the two men beside him.

            “She overdosed,” They quickly explained – it wasn’t like this man knew who they were.

            “She needs to go to the hospital.” It wasn’t like Aaron and Demetrius didn’t already know that.

            Aria’s eyes fluttered open as the men around her talked about her condition. Her eyes widened in shock when she noticed who was holding her. Her muddled mind could only half comprehend where she was and she was certain it was playing tricks on her. There was no way **he** was here.

            At that moment, the man holding Aria in his arms happened to look down. Her hazel eyes left no room for doubt in his mind as to who the girl in his arms was. He couldn’t understand how she had gotten to this point, but there was no mistaking the tiny, intelligent, unique girl he had fallen in love with so long ago.

            “Aria?” He barely managed to whisper, having eyes only for her and not noticing the two men who had brought her back into his life, slipping away into the night air.

            “E…Ezra?” She barely managed to gasp before her world went dark once more.

           


	2. Somebody Help Me

_ Class A _

_ Chapter Two: Somebody Help Me _

__

**Bronx-Lebanon; The Bronx, New York City, January 2013-**

            “How is she today?” Ezra asked the nurse sitting behind the large, wooden desk.

            “She’s still asleep,” The elderly woman, her hair already stark white, responded in a kind, worry filled voice.  

            “Can I see her?” He asked; hope emanating from his voice at the thought of seeing the one girl who had not left his mind for the past year.

            “I think I can make an exception for you,” The woman winked, her wide, brown eyes watching Ezra from behind her large rimmed glasses as she stood from her seat. She smoothed the wrinkles from her frost white uniform before coming around the desk. She gestured for Ezra to follow her down the long hall full of medical equipment.

            “Did they move her?” Ezra questioned, shifting the blood red roses he held in his left hand to his right.

            “Just down the hall. They gave her, her own room shortly after you went home,” The nurse informed him, “She’ll be more comfortable now.”

            Ezra nodded in response, nervously twisting the roses in his hand. His pulse quickened as he neared the room Aria had been moved to. The nurse patted Ezra reassuringly as he stood motionless in the doorway, staring in at the pale, small figure of the girl he had been praying to see every night for the past year.

            A lone tear fell from Ezra’s eye as he took in the pathetic sight in front of him. The once strong girl he had known lay in before him - weak and frail. Her skin was only a shade or two darker than the white sheets of the small hospital bed she laid in. Her dark brown hair had been washed the previous night and, after hours of brushing with no luck of getting the tangles out of the chocolate mass, the nurses had made the decision to cut Aria’s long tresses – stating a hindrance to the doctors.

            Ezra slowly moved into the room, taking cautious steps toward the hospital bed. He grasped the railing as he neared the head of the short bed, not that Aria required a very long bed. He tentatively lifted his hand and moved it toward Aria’s cheek, gingerly laying the tips of his fingers against her soft, cool skin and stroking the all too familiar silky skin. A sad smile graced his face before he turned away.

            He gently laid the roses he held in his hand on the wooden table by the bed before slinging his charcoal, knee-length coat from his body and tossing it over the back of a green upholstered chair. He moved the chair to the side of the bed, the wooden legs scrapping a little on the floor as he dragged it; positioning it near the head of the bed.

            “Aria, why did you do this to yourself?” Ezra whispered, his voice breaking on the last syllable as he grasped Aria’s tiny hand in his own, careful not to wake her.

            He rubbed his eyes with his free hand as he continued staring at the girl before him. He couldn’t believe she had come to this. He wanted so badly to believe that she had somehow accidentally overdosed – she wasn’t the type to do drugs; not in his mind anyway. The doctors had quickly shot his beliefs, the beliefs he wanted to be true; he had **prayed** to be true, down when they had told him that Aria exhibited all the traits of a heroin addict.

            He couldn’t begin to fathom what had happened in her life that had brought her to this low. There for the first six months after she had left Rosewood for City University of New York, she had written or called him every day – excited about college life. She had sounded like she was thriving in her new setting. She was making good grades, especially in her English courses, and had made new friends. She’d even gotten a job as a campus tour guide. Never during those six months had she let on that something was bothering her or that her life had suddenly been placed on a downward spiral.

            Aria’s calls became less frequent after the first six months, but Ezra hadn’t taken that as a sign that something was going horribly awry in her life. He had summed it all up to her suddenly having more schoolwork to do, work that he was certain she was having no problem with, but still took a good chunk of her time either way. He knew she had work to do as well. She couldn’t be expected to spend every moment of her free time on the phone with her **_older_** boyfriend who also had the misfortune of being her former high school English teacher. He didn’t fault her for not calling –how could he? He had gotten to experience college life and so should she.

            Eventually though, her phone calls, texts, and emails stopped completely. Every attempt Ezra made to come in contact with her once more, failed. He decided to pack up his things and move to New York in hopes of coming in contact with Aria, finding out what was wrong with her, and being closer to her. He handed in his resignation to Hollis and applied for jobs at various high schools in New York.

            When he arrived, he found a nice apartment in Manhattan with the help of his mother – a widow who made a name for herself practicing law. He had quickly gotten a job teaching at a Catholic all boys school and became an integral part of the school. Although he had gotten settled in his new life with ease, he hadn’t forgotten about Aria.

            His search for Aria hadn’t gone as well as his settling in had. He had gone to City University and asked around campus about Aria only to discover from one of her _former_ friends that she had dropped out nearly two months prior. Ezra had found that strange. He knew how hard-headed and set Aria was on getting an English degree – she wouldn’t have given up or walked away from one of the things she wanted most in this world. He had continued looking for her, but after months of coming to nothing but dead ends, he had nearly given up.

            That was the week before she had come waltzing back into his life once more or, more like, was carried back into his life. He hadn’t expected to see her once more yesterday after such a long time of not knowing what had happened to her. He certainly hadn’t expected to see her half comatose after a drug overdose and in the arms of a tall Jamaican. He could tell that there was a lot that had occurred in her life over the last year and there were definitely some blanks that she would have to fill in for him.

            “E…Ezra?” He was shaken from his own little world at the raspy sound of Aria’s voice. She sounded like she was in shock; disbelief that he was actually **here** beside her.

            “Hey,” Ezra greeted, his voice soft and unthreatening. He knew that he would have to take small steps with Aria; almost as if he were trying to coax a timid animal from its hiding place. He could tell that she had had a rough year and no doubt would not easily welcome him back into her life.

            “What…” She began, stopping for a brief moment as coughs began to rack her tiny frame before continuing, “What are you doing here?”

            “You don’t remember any of last night?” Ezra asked gently, watching her for her reaction. She furrowed her once perfectly plucked but now slightly overgrown brows together. She pursued her lips and her eyes took on a distant glint as a look of concentration fell over her.

            “I remember working,” Aria began as Ezra started questioning in his head exactly what her ‘job’ consisted of, “Then I went to Aaron and Demetrius’.” 

            “Aaron and Demetrius?” Ezra questioned, wondering if he had finally gotten names to put with the faces of the men who had dumped her in his arms last night. He prayed she was talking about two other people and not the ones who hadn’t even bothered to make sure she was okay after leaving her.

            “They’re friends,” Aria shrugged, obviously not in the mood to give any more information to Ezra. Any more information and he would know exactly who they were. She wasn’t going to rat her friends out for dealing drugs – that wasn’t something you did on the streets.

            “Let me guess, Aaron is a few inches taller than you, has a nose ring, and more ear piercings than any man has the right to have? Oh and how could I forget the misguided attempt at dying his brown hair blonde?” A shocked look crossed Aria’s face upon Ezra’s fairly accurate description. Ezra took her silence as agreement before continuing his spiel, “In that case, Demetrius must be the unusually tall Jamaican with the dreadlocks.”

            “Why do you know who Aaron and Demetrius are?” Aria demanded to know in a nearly accusatory tone. She glared at Ezra; crossing her arms over her chest and instantly going into a defensive mode.

            “Because they’re the jackasses who decided to leave you with a complete stranger last night knowing that you needed medical attention. They don’t sound like friends, Aria,” He tried to keep his voice neutral, but he wound up sounding slightly condescending at the end.

            “They did what they had to do,” She responded, shrugging in a way that told Ezra he should give up any hopes he had of making her think otherwise.

            “They left you with a complete stranger, Aria. A stranger!” With that said, Ezra stood from his chair, pushing it back and running a hand through his hair in frustration and slight anger. He couldn’t believe how stubborn Aria was being at this moment. Her life had been on the line and rather than insuring that their supposed friend was okay, those two had dumped her on the nearest person they could find. That didn’t sound like something a friend would do in Ezra’s book.

            “You don’t understand, Ezra,” Aria shouted back, her voice breaking from lack of use as she continued glaring at the man in front of her. There was so much of her life he didn’t know – that she was ashamed to tell him.

            “Then **_make_ ** me understand,” He gave the simple solution in a soft, yet frustrated voice as he came to stand by the bed, looking down at Aria with an almost patronizing expression.

            “No matter how much I explain to you Ezra, you will never understand. So much has happened in my life since the last time you saw me. I’m not the same person I was and I don’t think I can ever be that person again. Just trust me when I say that Aaron and Demetrius are amazing friends – they’re the only friends I have. They did what they had to do to protect themselves from **my** stupidity. I would have done the same in their situation,” She stated, her eyes pleading with Ezra to drop the topic.

            “Aria, what happened to you?” Ezra begged – he had to know why the woman he was still convinced he would share the rest of his life with was in this much pain.  

            “It’s not a short story, Ezra. Nor is it something I would care to share,” She sighed, sounding slightly defeated as she shrank down on her pillows.

            “Tell me. You used to tell me everything,” Ezra reminded her, gripping her hand in his and stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

            “That was the old me,” Aria stated with finality before pulling her hand from Ezra’s and rolling over on her side, closing her eyes.

            Ezra huffed before glancing at the watch on his wrist; he would be running late for his first class of the day. He quickly flung his coat on before heading toward the entrance to the room, turning at the doorway to stare back longingly at Aria before walking out of the room. He stopped at the desk where the friendly nurse who had escorted him earlier was typing away at a computer.

            “Thank you,” Ezra tossed at the woman.

            “You’re welcome, dear. I wouldn’t want to keep a young couple apart,” She grinned; it was evident that Ezra held a high place in her opinion.

            “We’re…” Ezra began before realizing that the old lady’s mistake would make it easier for him to have access to Aria during her hospitalization, “Very grateful for what you’ve done.”

            “You two are so adorable. How long have you been together?” She questioned, her eyes taking on a look of earnestness.

            “4 years,” Ezra quickly stated, which **would** be true if they hadn’t broken up or whatever it was Aria had done to them.

            “Are you planning on sealing the deal anytime soon?” She asked with a twinkle in her eye, leaning forward as if the two were sharing a secret.

            “Maybe,” Ezra drawled, hoping that statement was true, “I have to get to work. You have my number in case anything happens, right?”

            “Of course. I put it in her medical records last night when you gave it to me. Have fun at work,” She winked, waving at him.

            Ezra gave her a half wave before practically running down the hall to the elevator. He pressed the button several times as if it would make the elevator arrive on his floor any sooner. He practically shouted his frustration when the elevator finally decided to open its doors, allowing him to step inside. He pressed the button for the first floor and waited rather impatiently before he reached his desired level.

            On the first floor, he practically ran out the door into the cold morning air. He was amazed when he managed to find an unoccupied taxi quickly at this time of the morning. Sliding into the yellow car, he gave an address before requesting that the cabby drive as quickly as possible. The usually long drive was accomplished by the cabby in a little under fifteen minutes – prompting a lot of near heart attacks for Ezra. Yet when he arrived at his destination, he felt compelled to give the driver a nice tip.

            Out of breath, Ezra arrived in his classroom, having just ran to the room at the end of hall from the sidewalk. Ezra smiled at the sight of his students already sitting at their desks, their books out in front of them and opened to the current chapter they were reading. It had taken Ezra a while to adjust to the boys in this school always coming to class prepared and ready to learn, but this was a private school designed for the brightest students in the city.

            “Good morning,” Ezra greeted, smiling at the class as he placed his briefcase on his desk and slung his coat over his desk chair.

            “Good morning,” The boys all intoned, watching as Ezra pulled his own book from his briefcase and settled himself on the edge of his desk, looking out at his class.

            “Are you guys ready to discuss clichés?” Ezra asked his class. Freshman English wasn’t his favorite course to teach because he had to go over all of what he termed ‘elementary terms’.

            “We are, but _you_ don’t look like you are,” A tall, lanky boy with sandy hair said.

            “Thomas, my personal life remains just that, **_personal_** ,” Ezra stated, a little more harshly than he intended.

            “Of course, Mr. Fitz,” Thomas mumbled, unused to seeing his favorite teacher in a foul mood.

            “Let’s get started then,” Ezra said, attempting to lighten the mood by adding more enthusiasm to his voice.

            A few hours later, Ezra sat in the staff dining room with Hardy – the resident science teacher. The two were busy eating their lunch in silence, an unusual occurrence for the two best friends. Hardy sat staring at Ezra, trying to read his mood.

            “What’s your problem today, Z?” He asked, stretching some before reaching forward to grasp his can of soda.

            “I ran into Aria last night,” Ezra mumbled, taking a bite of his sandwich.

            “You’re kidding,” Hardy shook his head, trying to wrap his head around Ezra’s revelation.

            “Nope,” Ezra said, chewing his food before swallowing.

            “Please tell me you told that bitch where to go,” Hardy begged, his attitude toward Aria having soured since she had disappeared from his best friend’s life and broken his heart in the process.

            “It’s a little more complicated than that,” Ezra informed the man seated across from him.

            “Complicated how?” Hardy wondered, not able to see how that had anything to do with Ezra **not** telling Aria where to shove it.

            “I can’t talk about it right now,” Ezra shrugged before standing from the table, throwing his trash away, and walking out of the room.

           

           

           


	3. Swimming Through the Ashes

_ Class A _

_ Chapter Three: Swimming Through the Ashes _

**New York City, January 2013 –**

            Ezra stood outside Aria’s hospital room, watching as she laid completely still, her chest rising and falling with a rhythmic beat as she slept. A sad smile tugged at the corners of his perfectly sculpted lips. He leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest as he continued watching her – wondering how long she would be like this.

            It had been two days since he had brought her here and a day since their last conversation had taken place. Ezra had spent every moment he could at the hospital by her side since she was admitted, much to Hardy’s displeasure. Hardy couldn’t understand why Ezra was taking so much interest in Aria after what she had done to him.

            Hardy had witnessed Ezra’s heartbroken state after Aria had seemingly disappeared from his life. For the first month or so, Ezra had walked around his apartment as if he was in a trance –only eating and going to work because he had to. Half the time, Hardy couldn’t talk Ezra out of his bed or into decent clothes. He was certain Ezra had worn the same sweatpants for three weekends in a row without washing them.

            Ezra sighed as he thought back to the conversation he and Hardy had had during lunch two days ago. Hardy had been adamant that Ezra had done his part by bringing Aria to the hospital and wasn’t required to do much of anything else. That had led to a tense last few days for the two best friends.

            Ezra shook his head from his reverie and, after taking one last look at Aria, turned to walk down the hall. He felt around his pocket for his white iPhone as he rushed down the hall, trying to be as quick as possible. He didn’t want to be gone too long for fear that Aria would wake up before he was back.

            Ezra’s breath caught in his throat as he swung the door open and stepped out onto the grey, snow-packed sidewalk. The wind whipped his black coat around his body. He nodded at a few of the bystanders leaning against the building before walking to a more secluded area. He pulled his phone from his pocket and began dialing a ten digit number that he hadn’t called in a while; silently praying that he had remembered the number correctly.

            “Hello?” A groggy, questioning male voice answered – no doubt having just woken.

            “Mike?” Ezra decided it would be best to make sure he was talking to the right person. It had been years since he’d spoken to Aria’s little brother and his sleep filled voice hadn’t made it easy to detect his identity.

            “Who is this?” Mike demanded. Ezra chuckled as he heard a crash swiftly followed by cursing.

            “Ezra Fitz.” Sighing, Ezra stuffed the hand that wasn’t firmly holding his phone to his ear into his pocket.

            “And you’re calling because…” Mike’s tone was slightly rude as he tried to imagine why his sister’s ex-boyfriend would be calling him at noon. He was cutting in on Mike’s sleeping time.

            “I need help with your sister.” Mike banged his head on the shelf over his bed at the unexpected words from his sister’s ex.

            “Damn fucking shelf!” Ezra heard through the phone, laughing quietly to himself. Mike obviously wasn’t having a good day.

            “You’re real funny, Ezra. None of us have heard from Aria in a year.” Mike sounded on the verge of hanging up as Ezra sighed.

            “I ran in to her the other day, Mike.” Ezra leaned against the hard, rough brick of the wall behind him, crossing his arms and placing one foot on the wall.

            “Ran in to her?” Mike questioned, doubt in his voice as he finally managed to pull himself out of bed without any further harm to himself or his environment.

            “More like I had her shoved in my arms,” Ezra scoffed, flicking lint from his coat sleeve.

            “Dude, it’s early and I’ve already banged my head twice. Speak English man,” Mike whined.

            “Some guy practically threw her in my arms and asked that I take her to the hospital,” Ezra heaved a deep breath, tilting his head back to lean against the hard wall behind him, “She had overdosed on heroin.”

            “Is this some kind of sick joke?” Mike’s voice rose an octave with his anger. He sounded like he wanted to come through the phone and punch Ezra for spreading what he assumed to be horrible rumors about his sister.

            “Do you honestly think I’m the kind of person to pull a joke like this?” Ezra’s voice was just as cross. He had taken a lot from Aria’s family in the past. Byron and Ella hadn’t been happy about their relationship, throwing him out of their house and threatening to call the cops when he and Aria announced that they were a couple. Mike had even gone so far as to punch him.

            But this was one thing he wasn’t going to take from them. He wasn’t going to be called a liar. Not about this and not from _them._ He had devoted the better half of the last five years of his life to Aria. It was slowly killing him to see her like this and he would give anything for the words that just left his mouth to be a lie.

            “Relax, man. Where is she?” Mike’s tone sounded defeated and was devoid of the harshness he had exhibited moments earlier. No doubt Ezra’s tone had left him reeling.

            “New York,” Ezra let out through clenched teeth, clenching and unclenching his fists. Each time, he dug his nails into the fleshy part of his palm until his fingers turned white from the effort, leaving little nail marks all along his palm.

            “No shit. Which hospital, dumbass?” Mike’s voice was an equal mixture of sarcasm and frustration at Ezra’s vague response. They had all assumed she was still in New York after she dropped out of college despite the lack of concrete evidence.

            “Bronx-Lebanon,” Ezra sighed, the tension leaving his body and taking with it every last ounce of energy he had left. In its place, worry came flooding in until every nerve of Ezra’s body was drowning in the murky waters of his emotions.

            “Have you told my parents?” That question caused Ezra to snort. He wasn’t **_that_** stupid. He had left Rosewood partly to continue his own search for Aria and partly to escape the Montgomerys. There was no doubt in his mind that if he called them this very instant to tell them that their daughter was laying in a hospital bed having overdosed on heroin that they would attempt in some perverse way to pin her predicament on him. No, he wouldn’t be telling them.

            “Do you really think I’m that stupid?” Mike’s tight chuckle was the only answer Ezra needed for that question. Of course Mike knew that Ezra hadn’t told Ella and Byron about Aria.

            “Look, my last exam’s tomorrow and then I’ll catch a plane up there. I’ll call my parents then. They’re going to flip the fuck out and someone should probably prepare Aria for that.”

            “Good point.” It was nice to see that Mike was starting to mature and see the world outside of how it affected him. It was a better voice of reason than Ezra at the moment it seemed.

            “Hey, take care of my sister, man.” Mike’s voice finally cracked at that. He was relieved that he finally knew where Aria was, but he couldn’t help the deep pit forming in his stomach at the thought of what she had been through the last year. He knew it must have been bad if she had turned to drugs. That wasn’t the Aria he knew.

            “Always,” Ezra answered truthfully. He had never stopped looking after Aria. He doubted that he could at this point. It had been a year and he still couldn’t shake her from his system. It seemed that no matter what happened, they were always drawn back to one another. They just couldn’t shake each other.

            “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Mike hung up the phone at that, leaving Ezra staring out at dirty, trampled snow-covered sidewalk. He felt numb at having finally shared his discovery of Aria with someone other than Hardy. For the last two days, he had gotten to keep her to himself and, though she wasn’t talking much to him yet, felt like he was making some headway toward continuing with their old relationship.

            Come tomorrow, all of that would change. Mike would be there and he would want to spend time with his sister. Then there was the nasty business of involving Ella and Byron. Ezra doubted that they would allow or want him to continue visiting their daughter. Yet despite Ezra’s desire to keep Aria to himself and avoid the impending fallout with her parents, he **had** to tell her family about her whereabouts and current condition. He wouldn’t feel right keeping it to himself knowing how close Aria had once been to her parents and her brother.

            Ezra shoved himself away from the smooth, white brick. Scuffing the snow on the cracked cement, Ezra slowly dragged his feet to the door. The thought of contacting Aria’s friends crossed Ezra’s mind as he entered the warm building, feeling his fingers begin to tingle with the rush of warm blood. They had been just as, if not more, heartbroken as Aria’s family when she went missing. Spencer and Emily had spent every weekend and break at first searching New York for Aria and Hanna had flown in from Paris where she was studying at IFA.

            Over time, the girls had stopped devoting so much time to the search in New York. They began to doubt if Aria was even still there or if she could be found. Spencer began once again burying her nose in her books and spending every second studying to become the top of her class at Williams. Hanna could not fly back to New York every weekend and it had always been her dream to be a fashion designer. Emily, on the other hand, still went out every weekend in search of her missing friend. She was attending New York University and found a lot more time to devout to finding Aria.

            Of all the girls, Emily was the only one that Ezra had kept in touch with. They had exchanged numbers at the start of the year long search and promised to call each other if they managed to obtain even the smallest lead on Aria. Emily had called when a former friend of Aria’s had supposedly seen her hanging around Queens and now Ezra felt it his obligation to inform Emily that he had found Aria.

            Running a hand through his unruly hair, he really needed to go home and at least shower tonight, Ezra made the mental note to call Emily later that day. First, he wanted to check on Aria. Surely she was awake by now.

            He entered the stairwell, the door slamming shut behind him. His breath turned a frosty white. It seemed that the stairwell wasn’t heated as the rest of the building was or someone had forgotten to turn on the heat for this particular part. Considering that most people would take the elevator rather than walk up three flights of stairs, Ezra doubted the heat for the stairwell had even been hooked up.

            His black converse pounded up the stairs, he needed to soothe his frazzled nerves and a quick ride in an elevator wouldn’t do that. He pressed his hand to the cold railing, taking in the feel of the icy, smooth steel as he held it in a death grip on his way up. He didn’t know what to say to Aria bout her brother’s impending arrival or how it would affect her. Deep down, Ezra knew that she would not have wanted him to reach out to her family and would most likely start attempting to throw things at his head the moment he told her about what he had done.

            Ezra reached the third floor landing and hoisted the heavy, metal door open. A gush of warm air met him as he walked in. His fast pace slowed as he neared the door to Aria’s room. A sinking feeling filled his gut as his hand collided with the grey, metal handle – how was he going to tell Aria what he had done?

            He took a deep breath and twisted the handle, pushing the door open. Aria’s dark gaze collided with his as stepped into the room. Her short hair was sticking out and her eyes were slightly bloodshot. The paper thin hospital gown had slid off one shoulder, revealing her creamy white skin.

            “How do you feel today?” Ezra’s soft voice had Aria straining to hear as he took a seat in the creaky, green leather chair that he had dragged to her bedside earlier.

            “Like shit.” Aria’s voice cracked on those words, the grogginess from her nap still hadn’t worn off her voice. She put her hand to her head, making a gesture as if to sweep her hair to one side before allowing her hand to fall back to her lap and giving a dejected stare.

            “The nurses said it was in their way,” Ezra offered as an explanation, reaching out to touch the soft, chocolate strands on her head.

            “Hmmp,” Aria huffed, crossing her arms and leaning back against the uncomfortable, brick-like pillow.

            “Aria,” Ezra began, clearing his throat and glancing around the room as he took her hand in his, “I called your brother. He’s coming here tomorrow…and he’s calling your parents before he leaves.”

            Aria’s head snapped to the side and her hazel eyes filled with anger as she glared at Ezra. She yanked her hand from his and barely stopped herself from slapping him. Ezra watched as she turned on her side and buried her face in her pillow.

            “Aria, say something,” He pleaded, rubbing her back. She squeezed her eyes shut, letting the tears flow down her cheeks. She couldn’t face her family after everything that she had done.

            “Leave, Ezra. Please,” She choked that last word out, her body shaking from the sobs that she was holding in. She didn’t feel like crying in front of him.

            “I’ll give you time to adjust to what I said, Aria and I’ll be back tomorrow after work.” He bent to give her a quick peck on the cheek before he turned and exited the room. He checked his watch on the way down the hall when he noticed several nurses pursing trays of food. It was going on seven and he still had to call Emily.

            He hailed a taxi the moment he stepped out into the bitter cold and gratefully slid into the warm vehicle. It was a short ride from the hospital to his apartment, but not short enough to stop his mind from wondering to how he would tell Emily about Aria.

            He took a deep breath as the taxi pulled up outside his apartment building and paid for his ride. He practically ran for the door and up the stairs. He needed to call Emily before he lost his nerve.

            So engrossed in his thoughts was Ezra that he nearly bumped into the tall brunette leaning against his door.

            “Emily?” Ezra’s shock couldn’t be more obvious as he came to an abrupt stop and stared at her.

            “I came to tell you that I think I got a lead on Aria. She’s been…Ezra I think…she’s been selling her body for drugs,” Emily offered, her face scrunching up at the unpleasant announcement.

            “ **That’s** what she’s been doing?” Ezra sounded incredulous as he put his key in the lock on his door.

            “You took that a little differently than I was expecting,” Emily snorted, following Ezra into his apartment and making herself at home, heading straight for the refrigerator and a bottle of water.

            “Emily,” Ezra began, throwing his coat across the wooden dining room chair and kicking his shoes off, “I ran into Aria a couple days ago. She’s at Bronx-Lebanon.”

            “And I’m just now hearing about this because…” Emily trailed off, snapping her head to the side and glaring at Ezra as she roughly unscrewed the cap to her water bottle.

            “She was in bad shape. A heroin overdose. I thought I should give her a little time to recover before throwing visitors on her and I wanted to tell her brother first.” Ezra shrugged, flipping on the television.

            “You’re a jerk,” Emily stated, flouncing over to the sofa and plopping down beside Ezra, pulling her knees up to her chest.

            “I did it for her. Give her time, Em. Let me bring you up to her and then you can visit. She hasn’t seen any of us in a year. She needs to readjust,” Ezra paused for a breath, “And she’s fucking pissed that I told her brother.”

            “I want to be there for her.” Emily turned her wet, brown gaze on Ezra.

            “And you will be…in time.”

            “You have a day, maybe two, to bring it up, Fitz and then I’m visiting with or without your permission.” Emily’s ultimatum was no surprise to Ezra. He would be the same way if he were in her position.

            “Keep it from the other three from now. She’ll only retreat further into herself if we spring everyone on her too fast.” He stood from the sofa and stretched, yawning.

            “Pinky promise?” Emily said, serious as she held her pinky out to Ezra. He laughed and wrapped his own little finger around hers.

            “Now,” Emily bounced from her seat, “What do you want for dinner?”


	4. Don't Know Which Way is Up

_ Class A _

_ Chapter Four: Don’t Know Which Way is Up _

__

**New York City, January 2013 –**

“Are you going to talk to her about me?” Emily didn’t even give Ezra time to crawl out of bed before bombarding him with the all too important topic of telling Aria that she was in New York and wanted to see her.

“Maybe I should have locked the door,” Ezra mumbled to himself, staring dejectedly at the lock on his bedroom door as he ran a hand through his tousled brown hair.

“Emily, I will tell her about you today, but I can’t do it from bed.”

“Then get out of bed.”

“Get out of my room first?” Ezra scrunched his eyebrows, struggling against the pillows until he was in a sitting position with his black blue sheet held in place around his waist.

“Aren’t you a bucket full of sunshine in the morning?” Emily scoffed, turning her back to Ezra and slinging the door open. She sauntered out of the room, slamming the wooden door shut behind her.

Ezra lifted his arms above his head and stretched, enjoying the feel of the tension almost but not entirely leaving his sore muscles. He reluctantly slid from beneath his warm sheets to place his bare feet on the cool, wooden floor. The icy cold quickly crept into his toes, turning each step into a painful movement as he traversed the short space to his shower.

His bathroom wasn’t any less chilly than his bedroom had been. Had Emily messed with the thermostat again? Ezra frowned. Every time she visited… He turned the shower on, stripping out of his sleepwear as he waited for the water to warm.

He stepped into the warm, inviting shower and sighed as he felt the water sluice over his tense muscles. He grabbed for his shampoo, squirting a liberal amount on his hair and massaging it into his scalp, enjoying the feel of the mini-head message he was giving himself. He went through several scenarios in his head as he showered – each one ending with Aria’s father physically assaulting him.

The smell of bacon and eggs drifted into the bedroom as he was toweling himself off, making his stomach growl. He dressed in a favorite pair of old, worn jeans paired with a black band shirt and his Converse. He made his way to the kitchen to find that Emily had set two plates of steaming food on the table.

“This smells good,” He complimented her, sitting and taking a bite of the food while his mind wondered to Aria.

 

 

Aria awoke to the bright sun streaming in through the blinds, hitting her full on the face. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched. She was feeling better than she had in the last year. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this well rested and she even considered the lumpy hospital mattress to be comfortable having not had the luxury of sleeping on a mattress in a long time.

“Good morning, Aria.” She snapped her head to the door at the cheery sound of Nurse Monica entering the room. The hospital staff had been generally polite and enthusiastic around her.

“Good morning,” Aria mumbled, pulling the blankets tighter around herself and shivering against the slight chill that had entered the room.

“Can I have another blanket?” She asked, her teeth clanking together as she shivered.

“I’ll grab another for you,” Monica smiled, moving toward the door. She returned several minutes later, a dark green blanket in her hands. She spread the blanket on the bed and helped Aria rearrange her pillows to a sitting position.

“Would you like to watch television this morning?” That question caught Aria’s attention. She watched television in a year. Not any program she was interested in, at least. There had been the occasional moment when she was in a store or restaurant that they had a television blaring, but she never got a good look on her way to whatever rendezvous point a client had designated.

“Could I?” She sounded like a child who had just had something new and shiny dangled before her face.

Monica giggled at the thrilled look on Aria’s face and passed a controller to her, staying long enough to make sure that she remembered how to use one. Aria hit the power button and watched as the flat-screen on the wall switched on. Some news anchor was telling the city to be prepared for more snow.

“We don’t have many channels, but I’m sure you can find something you’ll like,” Monica pointed out before leaving the room.

Aria flipped through all the channels at least half a dozen times. She was bewildered by the sudden reintroduction of television in her life. She finally stopped when she came across a film that looked interesting. She pegged it for an eighties film and sat listening although she didn’t understand the language. There were subtitles, but she was too far from the screen to make them out.

“You have good taste,” A young doctor commented as he walked into the room, his white lab coat flailing behind him, “ _Au Revoir, Les Enfants._ One of my favorites.”

“I’m no expert in French, but I’m pretty sure you just butchered that.” Aria laughed, enjoying the feeling of sharing a joke.

“We Brits aren’t known for our impeccable French skills,” He chuckled, moving to the side of Aria’s bed and placing the tips of his stethoscope in his ears, “Mind if I have a listen?”

Aria shrugged, reading the doctor’s name tag as he placed the cold steel of his medical instrument on her exposed back: Doctor Kingston. She inhaled and exhaled as she was asked, feeling relieved when he finally withdrew from her side. She watched as he made some quick additions to the computer sitting in the far corner of her room.

“Everything good?” She called, pushing a stray lock of brown from her eyes and watching the handsome young doctor.

“Considering what you have been through, yes.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall awaiting any further questions she might have. This was the first time he had been in to check on her that she hadn’t been unconscious or sleeping.

“Did you…run any blood work?” She asked, thinking back to a conversation she had recently had with Ezra about being checked for any possible sexually transmitted diseases. She had been livid at the time, but she was starting to see the sense in inquiring about it.

“We did though that question generally implies that you were hoping we had been looking for a specific something,” He answered, scrunching his eyebrows at her odd request.

“It’s just…I did some things I’m not proud of to get by and I want to make sure I’m clean.” She rushed the words out of her mouth ashamed of admitting her past.

“I’ll send a nurse in to take some more blood samples and run the tests.” His tone was kind and devoid of judgment. Aria couldn’t have been more grateful for that. She had her reasons for doing what she had done – most of them fueled by her desire to feed her addiction, and she didn’t think it was anyone else’s business to judge what she had done. Not after she had already judged herself.

“Thanks.” She turned her gaze back to the screen to see a priest giving some sermon in a crowded church. She tilted her head, trying to decipher what was being said though it didn’t matter much. She had missed the majority of the movie.

Dr. Kingston headed toward the door, stopping to turn and look at Aria for a moment, “If you can find it, _Le Corbeau_ is another good one.”

Aria smiled to herself once the doctor had left and snuggled back against her pillows, pulling her blankets to her chin. She felt her eyes growing heavy as she continued the film. The film was over before she knew it and another French film, this time a classic film noir, had begun. Slowly, her eyes drifted closed and she found herself off in dreamland.

Ezra entered some time later to find Aria asleep and some black and white film playing on the television. He slung his coat over the nearby chair and took a seat at her bedside, turning his attention to the film. It brought back memories of their many secret rendezvous where take out and old movies had become their guilty pleasure.

He found himself taking hold of Aria’s hand in his, laying their joined hands on the foamy blanket. He admired the look of her slender hand in his – he had missed that sight. He ran his thumb across her knuckles, enjoying the feel of her soft skin.

“Harrumph.” Ezra looked up and locked gazes with Aria at the sound of her clearing her throat. She gave him a small, shy smile and squeezed his hand a little.

“Are you still mad at me?” Ezra inquired, unwilling to let go of her hand as he inched closer still to her beautiful face.

“Oh I’m pissed.” Aria gave her signature breathy laugh, her eyes twinkling at her comment as she found herself closing the last few inches between herself and Ezra, placing her soft lips on his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her hands wonder into his soft, brown curls as a contented sigh left her.

“Ezra, I’m sorry!” She pulled back less than a second later, her eyes wide with shock. She tried yanking her arms to her side, but Ezra caught hold of them first. His chuckle reached his eyes as he lightly rubbed her arms.

“Don’t be. I never gave up on us, Aria and I was kind of hoping that we could start back off where we left things.” She shook her head more vigorously at each word he spoke. He really had no clue what he was getting in to.

“You don’t want me, Ezra. I’m not that same girl who used to sneak off to your apartment for secret dates. A lot has changed me,” She whispered, pulling her arms away and clasping them by her sides.

“Aria, you’re still that same girl. Your experiences recently may have changed your outlook on yourself, but deep down, you have not changed.” He grew serious, reaching for her left hand and holding it tightly in his.

“I’m not ready for this, Ezra. Right now, I need a _friend_ not a boyfriend.”  She once again pulled her hand from his grasp and crossed her arms over her chest, closing herself off.

“I won’t give up, Aria.” His tone was final as he turned in his chair to give his attention to the movie that had all but been forgotten during their interaction. The two sat in an uncomfortable silence for some time, both appearing to watch the movie that was playing. At the start of the end credits, Aria turned to Ezra.

“When will my brother be here?”

“He never said.” His brisk tone caused her to shrink in her bed. After the year she had had, she didn’t do well with any tone or statement that she could construe as being offensive.

“Ezra, I’m not ruling us out for good. Just for now. Until I figure myself out.” 

“Let me help you do that.” He twisted in his seat to look at her, his blue eyes imploring her to agree to his request.

“You can. I’m not saying that I don’t want you here. I just want to make sure that I am in a healthy place in my life before starting something.” Her own eyes begged him to understand what she was trying to say; to respect her one request.

“I’ll wait for you. I will always wait for you.”

“Thank you,” She smiled, picking at her cuticles. She glanced at Ezra’s phone, tilting her head to the side as she did so. He noticed where her attention had gone and laughed.

“You can play on it if you want.”

“Have the apps gotten any better in the last year?” She asked, grabbing the black phone in her hand and hitting the power button, staring at the image that created her on the lockscreen. A picture from her graduation greeted her eyes. She scrunched her face, trying to figure out where that smiling, carefree girl had gone to.

“Temple Run is an addicting one,” He answered, choosing to ignore the look she had given his phone.

“Temple Run?” She asked, finally sliding her finger across the screen.

“It’s…here I’ll show you.” Ezra grabbed the iPhone from her hands and quickly found the app he was looking for. He tapped it once and waited for the app to fill the screen before handing it over. They sat in a comfortable silence as Aria played the game.

“Ezra?” She waited until he turned and gave her his full attention. “What’s the point?”

“To get the highest score.”

“So…it never ends?”

“No.”

“I thought you said the apps had gotten better.”

“No…I said that I _liked_ that one.”

“You have bad taste.”

“Yet I chose you.” He gave her a cheeky smile and winked.

“Hold on there, mister. You aren’t allowed to render any and all future comebacks of mine moot.” She shook her head in mock annoyment as she exited out of the app and began scrolling for another. Finally, she shook her head and handed it back to Ezra.

“Bored?” He laughed, putting the phone in his pocket.

“There’s nothing fun to do,” She complained, yanking the remote off the stand by her bed and turning to flip through channels. She went through several channels before stopping at _Jeopardy!_

“The redhead in the middle wins,” Ezra commented, ducking when Aria turned to glare at him.

“I could have found that out on my own,” She scoffed, turning her attention back to the television.

The two settled into a near domestic camaraderie as they watched the show. They each randomly called out the answers to the questions they knew, sometimes shouting over one another. They were both glued to the screen as the final Jeopardy question was displayed:

“You better not tell nobody but God begins this 1982 novel whose film version garnered 11 Oscar nominations.”

“ _The Godfather_?” Ezra guessed.

“It’s _The Color Purple_ ,” Aria stated with absolute conviction. Ezra shook his head and was rewarded with a playful slap on the arm. The two watched as the final answer was revealed – proving that Aria had been correct.

“Okay Miss Smarty pants.” The two turned at the unfamiliar voice to find a man of average height leaning against the doorframe.

“Mike,” Aria was slightly apprehensive as she said her brother’s name, not knowing where this was going to go.


	5. Things Have Changed

_ Class A _

_ Chapter Five: Things Have Changed _

 

“Aria.” Her name tumbled off his lips, sounding like a reverent prayer. Mike stood in the door, transfixed by the sight of his older sister laying before him on a hospital bed. She looked small and pale.

“Hi Mike.” Her voice was soft, coming out in a whisper. He began walking toward her bed, stopping at the side and bringing his hand up to gently grasp hers.

“I can’t believe it’s really you.” His voice cracked and he had tears in his eyes. She averted her gaze, unwilling to watch her little brother break down.

“It’s really me.” She gave him a small, shaky smile as she played with a loose strand of fabric on the blanket she had. She was waiting with bated breath for the yelling to begin. Mike wasn’t typically the type for screaming, but she had put the family through a lot.

“Are you okay?” He finally allowed a few tears to drip down his face as he moved forward to envelop her in a loving embrace.  After a moment’s hesitation, Aria timidly lifted her own arms to return Mike’s hug.

Ezra watched, awkwardly, as the two siblings cried while holding one another. He stood from his seat and glanced at it watch. It was almost three in the afternoon.

“I’m going to go get some food while you two catch up. Any requests?” He offered, heading toward the door.

“Anything beats the hospital food they’ve been trying to feed me,” Aria quipped, releasing Mike and looking at Ezra.

“I’ll eat anything but green stuff.” Mike’s answer was typical and Ezra found himself chuckling.

“I’ll be back in a few.” Ezra hurried from the hospital and away from the two siblings.

Mike took a seat in Ezra’s now vacated chair and sat staring at Aria. She began fidgeting once more, uncomfortable with being watched.

“I’m not going to bug you about where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing. You’ll tell me when _you_ feel comfortable. Just…” He paused, clearing his throat before continuing, “Promise me you won’t run away like that again.”

“I don’t know, Mike. You never know what life will throw at you. I didn’t expect to be in this situation a year ago. I can’t make any promises.”

He nodded at her statement and looked at the floor, taking a few moments to think about what he was going to say next. “What’s going to happen when they release you?”

“Mandatory rehab.” She made a face as she said those words.

“Sounds like fun,” Mike laughed, noticing Aria’s dismayed expression. Aria laughed along with Mike for a few moments, not sure why she was laughing but finding that it felt good to do so.

“What happens after rehab?”  Aria’s laughter trailed off as she looked toward the wall, staring at the faded white. She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, hugging herself.

“I don’t know. I _think_ I want to at least try to get back into college. I want to finish and get a job.” She turned her head to look at her brother, trying to decipher the look on his face.

“You could try getting in to Hollis. Dad could put in a word,” Mike suggested, watching as his sister began shaking her head.

“I can’t go back to Rosewood, Mike. Too many bad memories.” She shuddered at the thought of returning to the town that had been a prominent part of her childhood…and the scene of the most traumatic experiences she had ever gone through.

“Dad probably won’t let you stay, sis.” Aria’s head shot up at Mike’s comment. She scrunched her face as she began speaking:

“I’m twenty. He can’t force me to go back.” Mike sighed at the validity of her response. Their father couldn’t make her return to Rosewood, but there would be a fight about it. That’s how most things ended with their family anymore.  Ever since Byron and Ella’s divorce, and Aria’s stalker, the family bond had been non-existent.

“I still have to call them.” Aria shrugged. She had come to accept that her parents would be called and would, naturally, want to see her. There was nothing she could do to stop it regardless of how much she wished she could burrow in a hole and only come out once they were gone.

“Then call them.” If she sounded indifferent it was because she really was. Mentally, she felt that she was prepared to deal with the train wreck that was her parents.

“How about I do it after we eat? I don’t want to ruin anyone’s appetite,” He winked, trying to gain another laugh from his sister.

“Why? So then it’s hanging over our heads like a dark cloud? Just get it over with,” She snapped, finally letting the stress of the last week get to her. Mike looked taken aback at her sudden change in mood and stood from his chair, fishing in his pocket for his phone.

“I’ll go call them, then. Maybe you should take a nap.” He walked away from his sister and headed toward the exit.

Aria groaned and flopped back against her pillows, the familiar pounding in her head returning. She had gotten almost used to the headaches that the nurses had informed her were normal symptoms of withdrawal.  She yanked her blankets to her chin and turned on her side, closing her eyes and quietly humming herself to sleep.

 

 

Mike stood outside the hospital, shivering in the blistery cold wind and asking himself for the umpteenth time why he had left warm, sunny Hawaii for New York. He put a hand in his pocket as he dialed his mother’s number. Ella would be the easiest to deal with though he expected a lot of crying.

“Hello, Michelangelo,” His mother greeted on the first ring. He shook his head at her greeting. He wasn’t fond of his name and most people assumed that Mike stood for Michael. He let them think that.

“Hey mom.”

“Where are you? Don’t tell me you’re spending winter break with friends! We barely saw you over Christmas.” Ella had become clingy with her one remaining child since Aria had disappeared and Mike found it to be stifling sometimes.

“I’m in New York.” Mike waited for his mother’s next remarks. New York had become almost synonymous with evil and heartbreak for his mother since she had lost her daughter in the large, overcrowded city.

“Why would you be in _that_ place?” The fear and loathing in his mother’s voice was unmistakable…and expected.

 “Mom, are you sitting down?” He waited for her to reply that she was indeed sitting before he continued, “Aria is in a hospital here. She overdosed and when she was brought here, they called me.”

He intentionally left out any and all information pertaining to Ezra. He didn’t feel like fighting over him at the moment.

“My little girl?” Ella’s voice was barely a whisper; she was shocked.

“Yes.” Their conversation continued for a few more minutes. Mike supplied Ella with all additional information she needed to find Aria once she arrived in New York which would be the following day. He had felt relieved when Ella promised to call Byron and deliver the news himself. That was one ticking time bomb Mike wouldn’t have to deal with.

“Is Aria taking a nap?” Mike turned at the sound of Ezra’s voice to see him carrying three separate bags of food.

“Yeah. What did you do? Buy up the whole place?” Mike gestured toward the bags in Ezra’s hands.

“Your sister is picky and if you’re like me, you won’t eat what she does either,” Ezra laughed, looking toward the building, trying to signal to Mike that they should move out of the cold.

“I called my mom,” His tone was nonchalant as he shoved his phone into his pocket and took a bag from Ezra, “I’ll help you carry these upstairs.”

“Thanks.” Ezra and Mike moved into the hospital and toward the elevator, deciding to forego the stairs. When they had entered the elevator and were waiting to be carried to the third floor, Ezra began speaking, “How did your mom take it?”

“She cried. You know, the normal reaction to finding out that your lost daughter is fine. In a hospital, but fine,” Mike shrugged. He didn’t want to talk much about it and he hoped that Ezra would drop the subject.

“How much does she know about how Aria came here?” Ezra stared straight ahead as he continued his interrogation.

“I didn’t give her any details and she didn’t ask. She was just happy to hear that I knew where Aria was.” Ezra nodded, he understood why Mike hadn’t gone into detail.

The two men completed their elevator ride in silence. Ezra was once again preoccupied with how Aria’s parents would react when they once again saw him near their daughter. It wouldn’t surprise him if they had both come to the conclusion by this time that he was forever out of their lives. In truth, he had thought that they were out of his as well.

Mike’s train of thought was similar to Ezra’s. He, too, wondered how his parents would react to seeing his sister with her ex-boyfriend. He knew that Ezra and Aria were no longer together, but he couldn’t deny the way his sister’s eyes had lit up as she and Ezra teased one another while watching television. He didn’t doubt that it wouldn’t be long before Ezra and Aria were once more an item.

Mike knew that his father and mother didn’t care for Ezra and believed they had every right to be upset over how their relationship had started, but felt that that was something that should be left in the past. It was over and as far as Mike could tell, Ezra had never harmed Aria. Not intentionally, anyway. Mike could only hope that his father didn’t overreact, especially not after Ezra had practically saved Aria’s life. He had been the one to bring Aria to the hospital after all.

Ezra rapped his knuckles against the door before shoving it open and entering to find Aria struggling to sit up, her brown hair sticking straight up in places. He chuckled at her appearance as he carried his two bags to the tiny table that sat in front of the window.

“What did you get me?” Aria’s mouth was already watering at the thought, and smell, of food.

“ _You_ got wild mushroom and vegetable fricassee. I also picked up some of this.” Ezra pulled the container of humus and baby carrots from the bag. Aria’s eyes lit up when she saw what was in his hands and she made an eager grab for the food.

“Chill, sis.” Mike handed her the container as he put his bag on the table. Aria didn’t bother acknowledging him as she tore the lid off and happily began munching. Mike shook his head and turned to Ezra, watching as he dug the rest of the food from the bags. There were meatball subs for the guys as well as sodas for drinks.

The trio happily dug into their food. Mike couldn’t help but to watch Aria and Ezra as they ate. He had chosen to eat at the table while Ezra had chosen to sit by Aria, using the edge of her bed as a makeshift table. Occasionally, Aria would get something on her chin and Ezra would wipe it off. They took turns sharing their food with one another – Ezra had scrunched his face at the taste of hummus and declared that he would never be eating it again. Aria, meanwhile, had informed him that he had no taste. There was no doubt in Mike’s mind that it wouldn’t be long before the couple was once more a couple.

“Thanks for this, Ezra,” Mike called in between bites. The sub was quickly becoming his new favorite food.

“No problem.” Ezra shrugged it off, not taking his eyes from the beautiful young woman who sat in front of him.

“Aria,” Ezra began, finishing his sandwich and balling the wrapper in his hand, “Emily wants to visit you.”

“Emily?” Aria’s face lit up as she finally looked up from her fricassee.

“Yes. She’s never given up hope on you.” Ezra watched as the smile on her face grew.

“Can she visit tomorrow?” She was giddy, starting to bounce in her bed some.

“I’ll tell her you want her to.” Ezra shook his head as Aria clapped her hands before returning to her half-empty food container.

“I’ve never seen you eat this much,” Mike commented, watching in awe at the amount of food his sister was consuming.

“This is the first real food I’ve had in a while. Hospital food doesn’t count.” To Aria, that was the most logical response in the world as she continued downing her food.

“Need something to drink?” Ezra held out his bottle of soda. Aria gladly accepted the liquid and took a quick sip before finishing her meal. She glanced at the clock that hung on the opposite wall.

“You know you two have to leave in five minutes.” She sounded slightly disappointed. She would miss their company. She had forgotten how good it felt to be with friends.

“I know,” Ezra sighed, his melancholy showing through, “Where are you staying, tonight?”

“I don’t know, yet,” Mike answered, helping Ezra throw away their trash.

“You’re welcome to stay with me. I don’t have a bed to offer, but I do have a couch.”

“Thanks, man.” Mike tossed Aria’s food containers in the trash for her.

The two men said their goodbyes before leaving the hospital with promises to return the next day. They rode in relative silence to Ezra’s apartment. They had never spent much time together and as such, had nothing to bond over.

Emily was busy talking on the phone and eating a turtle sundae when the men walked in. Mike turned to give Ezra a questioning glance. He didn’t understand why his little sister’s friend would be in Ezra’s house unless his parents had been correct and Ezra really was a sick man.

“She’s a friend. We were both looking for Aria and we made promises to keep each other informed. She kind of took over my apartment when she found out about Aria.” Ezra kicked his shoes off and Mike did the same before following him to the small kitchen.

“Hi, Mike,” Emily greeted, finishing her sundae and placing her bowl in the sink before heading toward the guest room, her phone still glued to her ear.

“Don’t take it personally. She’s probably talking to Allison. No one else exists when those two are together.” Ezra headed toward his refrigerator and threw the stainless steel door open, producing two bottles of Bud Light before slamming it shut.

“Aria used to be the same with you. I think she would have been like that tonight, too if you hadn’t put food in front of her face.” Mike accepted the brown bottle from Ezra and twisted the cap, tossing it onto the counter.

“We’re friends. She has a long way to go to recover.” Ezra placed his opened bottle on the counter and grabbed Mike’s cap along with his, tossing them in the trashcan that sat just off the kitchen in the laundry room.

“She said she was wanting to go back to school after she gets done with rehab.”

“I told her I can try to help her get into another college around here. I’m not sure how successful that venture will be with her record, but it’s something she wants to do.” Ezra dragged one of the barstools to the other side of the island so he was sitting across from Mike.

“Is she going to stay with you?” Mike had been itching to ask that question all afternoon. He knew without a doubt that Aria wouldn’t return home. He couldn’t live with either one of his parents again and he would never expect her to endure that either.

“We discussed it. She’s going to stay with me until she gets a job and she’s back on her feet. I’m not sure I would be comfortable with her living in a dorm after what happened.”

“Yeah. Not a wise idea.”

The two quietly finished their beers, unsure of how to continue their conversations. Finally, Mike broke the silence by asking to be shown to a shower. Ezra obliged and took Mike to the bathroom off the hallway; the one that he and Emily would have to share.

“Thanks again, Ezra,” Mike said as he stood in the doorway of the modern bathroom.

“No problem. I’m going to turn in. You think you’ll be okay?”

“I may not have been the Spencer Hastings of Rosewood, but I think I can find a couch.”

“In case you need help, it’s the rectangular, grey thing that way.” He pointed a finger toward the living room and laughed when Mike flipped him off.

“Fuck you, man,” Mike laughed, heading into the bathroom and slamming the door.


	6. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

**New York City; January 2013 –**

“Aria!” She turned to the door at the high, shrill sound of her mother’s voice while smiling and cringing at the same time. Her mother’s kind, forgiving face was a much welcomed sight, but her father’s cold, unblinking stare made her blood turn to ice in her veins.

“Hi mom.” She offered a weak smile and hesitantly wrapped her arms around her mother to return her embrace.

“Aria.” Her father’s voice was tight, clipped as he slowly walked toward her bedside.

“Dad.” She acknowledged him with one, short word. She was silently praying that Mike would show up soon. He was running late. It was almost one and he had promised he would be there after he woke up to help offset the barrage of parental anger that was sure to occur.

“Why?” He sat heavily in the vacant chair by her bedside and she smirked when she thought of Ezra sitting there the day before.

“Leave her alone, Byron.” Ella jumped to her daughter’s defense, always eager to stop her ex-husband from pushing Aria too hard.

“Like I told Mike, I’m still not ready to talk about that.” Byron’s ice cold glare bore into his daughter. Ella cleared her throat and rapidly moved her gaze from Aria to Byron, willing him to remain quiet.

“When will they release you?” Ella slowly and gingerly perched herself on the corner of the hard mattress, reaching for Aria’s tiny hand.

“Tomorrow. Then I have to go to rehab.”

“Alright. We’ll find a place close to home.” Byron’s voice seemed to come out of nowhere and Aria whipped her head to the side to study him. She took a deep, shaky breath.

“I’m going to Aware in Brooklyn,” She announced, picking at an invisible thread on her sheet and finding it hard to meet her father’s gaze.

“What made you decide that?” This time it was Ella who spoke up, her brow tensed as she watched Aria intently.

“I asked my doctor where he would recommend and his staff made the arrangements for me,” She paused for another deep breath, “I’m not leaving New York.”

“What do you mean you aren’t leaving New York?” Byron repeated, as if that would show Aria just how ridiculous this notion was.

“I’m staying here. New York is my home now. There’s nothing left for me in Rosewood and, honestly, going back would hinder any improvements I make.”

“Honey, we want to help you. Rosewood is the best place for that.” At least Ella was trying to reason.

Aria gave her mother the most genuine smile that she could muster before launching into her reasoning for avoiding her hometown:

“I’m not going into details, but you and dad have picked up enough to know that something happened when I was in high school. I’m not going back to that…”

“Aria, I know when we cornered you then you wouldn’t answer, but is someone forcing you to do things? Forcing you to stay here?” Byron’s eyes blazed with those questions.

“No. I want to stay here because it’s free of all the bad memories that Rosewood holds. I’m not the same person I was before I left and the person I am now can never go back to **_that_**.” She shuddered, shaking her head at the thought of ever returning to that town.

“How are you going to stay here, Aria? I will not be footing the bill for this one. Have you thought about any of this?” Byron blurted, standing from his chair and pacing in front of the mirror, his hand making quick work of his thinning hair.

“I have a friend that offered a place to stay and to help me get back on my feet.” She purposely left out any mention of gender or name.

“Which friend?” Ella prodded and Aria sighed – she hadn’t expected to get the third degree from Ella.

“It isn’t one of my friends from the streets if that is what you are wondering. I’ve known this person for a while and I’m thankful that they are willing to do this for me. That’s all you need to know and it’s all you’re getting.” She crossed her arms over her chest, stubbornly.

Ella and Byron exchanged a look, unsure of what to do with this version of their daughter. She wasn’t the pliable girl that they had grown used to in Rosewood. This Aria was forceful, undaunted. This was an Aria that had experienced all the bad the world had to offer and had adapted to it.

“I’m not going to endorse this decision. When it doesn’t work out, don’t expect me to come sweeping in to bail you out of it. You find your own way back to Rosewood and I will deal with it there.” Byron didn’t spare a second glance as he stormed out of the room, barely avoiding Mike on his way out the door.

“I take it you told him you’re staying with E…” Mike clamped his mouth shut when he saw Ella sitting by Aria who was shooting him the sternest look he had seen in a while.

“You’re staying with Emily?” Aria sighed as Mike took a seat in Byron’s vacated chair.

“No…Emily lives on campus. It wouldn’t be possible.”

“Then wh…” Ella’s face went from that of a questioning mother to that of an enlightened, shocked parent within the fraction of a second.

“Look mom, I already feel like I have lost dad. At least for the moment. I don’t want to lose you too. So if this is going to cause a problem, I don’t want to speak about it. We’ll pretend it was never mentioned.”

“Aria…no yelling, I promise, but how? Why?” Ella looked flustered as she grasped for words, trying to understand how that man had managed to waltz back into her daughter’s life.

“The night that I ended up…OD’ing, the guys I was with took me toward the hospital and when they saw someone wearing a suit coming out of the Catholic school, they decided to leave me with them so they wouldn’t have to answer any questions about how I had gotten the drugs I had taken,” She paused, sucking in air and clamping her hands shut, trying to stop the shaking.

 “Ezra was the one that they handed me off to. You know that I don’t believe in fate, but…there was something more than mortal coincidence about **_him_** being the one that I was handed off to. He brought me here, stayed with me, kept me company. He called Mike even though he thought Mike would punch him again.

“He promised to help me get back on my feet. After rehab, he’s going to help me find a job so I can move into my own place and he’s going to try to help me back into school.”

“It sounds like Ezra is already playing his cards right.”

“Mom…”

“Mike, it wasn’t meant to be disrespectful. Ezra is doing more than has been asked of him.”

“Can we not talk about it anymore, mom?”

“Are you nervous about rehab?” Ella willingly changed the topic for her daughter’s sake.

“No. It’s the right thing to do now. I **_need_** to do this.” Aria slid down on the mattress, pulling her blankets to her chin and shivering against the cool air.

“We’ll be here to support you. Mike and I.” Aria nodded, smiling to herself.

 

 

Aria stood outside on the grey concrete, watching as the cars drove whisked by – shining in the morning sunlight. Four months in rehabilitation and she felt much better. Much like the old Aria that she had tried to distance herself from.

She tapped her foot against the sidewalk, picking at the loose strand on her black sweatpants. The air was warmer than it had been when she was first admitted in January and she was soon shedding the black jacket in favor of the baggy, white t-shirt underneath.

“Ready?” She jumped at the sound of Ezra’s voice coming from behind her and turned with a bright smile on her face.

“Yep.” She added extra emphasis on the ‘p’ as she slung her knapsack over her shoulder and followed Ezra down the street, in the direction he had just come from.

“I cleaned out the guest room and tried adding things that you would like.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I did. It looked like a fifteen year old nerd’s safe haven,” He chuckled, stealing a glance at her. Her hair had grown until it just barely touched the top of her shoulders. She had gained some weight, too and no longer looked like a gust of wind might knock her down.

“I might have enjoyed that. Was there Dungeons and Dragons?” She joked, her eyes sparkling when she turned her brown gaze on him, careful to avoid a hot dog someone had dropped on the grey stone.

“Possibly. There may still be.”

“So what you’re saying is, there’s going to be a Dungeons and Dragons game tonight?”

“That’s a strong possibility.” The two burst into laughter, causing several passersby to look in their direction. A few had bemused expressions while the majority were annoyed that someone had disrupted their morning commutes with laughter.

“Is this all you have?” Ezra questioned, gesturing toward the clothes Aria was wearing and the small bag on her back.

“It’s enough.” She shrugged, refusing to meet his gaze.

“What? Two outfits at most?”

“It’s enough,” She repeated, intent on focusing on the ground in front of her.

“No. It isn’t. After you get settled in, we’re going clothes shopping.”

“Ezra, I don’t have any money.”

“Don’t worry about it. I told you I was going to help you get back on your feet and that’s what I’m doing.”

Aria sighed and followed him in silence for the next four blocks. There was no arguing with Ezra once he had set his mind on something.


	7. Big Bad World

**New York City; May, 2013 –**

“What do you want for breakfast?” Ezra’s voice carried to the far recess of the apartment where Aria was just coming out of the guest room. He turned around, his voice catching in his throat when he noticed that Aria only had a towel wrapped around her body, the black cotton contrasting well with her ivory skin.

“Um…what do you usually have?” She asked, raking her fingers through her wet hair that hung in knots to her shoulders. She liked that it had grown, but she still missed the length it was before.

“Bacon and eggs. Scrambled though. I still haven’t figured out how to fry an egg,” He chuckled, shrugging sheepishly and trying to avoid staring for too long at the alluring figure before him. She didn’t make it easy.

“Sounds good. This is kind of awkward but do you have a brush I could use?” She finally dropped her hands from her hair.

“Yeah. There’s a comb in my bathroom. Help yourself.” He turned to the stove and began moving about, pulling out frying pans. She watched for a moment or two before turning around and entering his bathroom.

She found his comb by the sink and quickly began running it through her wet tendrils. When she was done with that, she used her finger and the toothpaste by the faucet to brush her teeth. She wrapped her towel tighter around her petite frame and scurried out of the bathroom; making a beeline for her bedroom before Ezra had a chance to turn around and catch her in the nearly too small towel once again.

Inside her room, she took survey of all the shopping bags heaped on the floor in front of the small window. There were several – more than she needed. She had begged Ezra to stop after the first three complete outfits that he had bought her, but he insisted that she need at least a complete wardrobe for a week’s time. They ended up with enough outfits for a whole month – 22 shopping bags in total.

She grabbed the closest bag to her, a Victoria’s Secret bag. She smirked as she remembered how Ezra had reacted to walking into the store with her. He was embarrassed, but so was she. He had instructed her to pick out whatever she needed and underwear was on the list. Being in a mall, he had guided her to the logical place and when she refused to enter alone, his credit card in her pocket, he was forced to follow her in.

She chose a pink thong set, another thing that had turned Ezra into a lovely shade of red, and slipped it over her body before digging for a pair of jeans and a loose, white shirt. She hadn’t felt the urge to dress like she did in the old days for quite some time now. She slipped her new Converse on and ran a hand through her thick, dark locks – tousling them even further.

When she entered the kitchen, Ezra had two steaming plates setting at the island and gestured for Aria to take a seat on one of the two stools. She slid onto the wooden seat and watched as Ezra poured two glasses of orange juice, sliding them toward their plates.

“This is good,” She complimented around a mouthful of egg.

“Have you had any thoughts about a job?” He ignored her compliment, uncomfortable with it. He wasn’t the kind of person who sought out praise.

“I figure retail is about all I’m going to get a shot at for now.” She lowered her gaze to her plate, her tone remorseful. She would be willing to do almost anything else but stand in a store and deal with troublesome customers all day. Almost willing to return to her old life; the one that included Demetrius and Aaron. She remembered that she needed to get in touch with them and see how they were. She hadn’t abandoned their friendship and, although Ezra couldn’t see it, she understood why they had abandoned her to him. It was how the street was.

“If you’re interested, I can get you a job as a librarian in Westwood,” He offered.

“New Jersey?”

“It’s about an hour from here. Not too bad and it beats retail.” He finally let some emotion show on his face as a smug smirk filtered across his lips.

“I think I still like books,” She grinned, melting to the idea as quickly as a marshmallow at a campfire, “Can we go see it today?”

“Finish your food and we can.”

“Alright _dad_.” And she rolled her eyes.

 

 

“I think you turn right here,” Aria announced, wrinkling her nose and staring at the phone she held in her hands. Ezra had never been to Westwood’s library before, having only heard about the job through a co-worker, and had given Aria full control over the GPS on his phone. So far she had managed to cause them to miss two turns and he was beginning to regret his decision.

“Are you sure?” He turned his sunglass-covered eyes toward her, raising the corner of his lip and waiting for her response.

“I’m sure.” She sounded confident, holding the phone out for him to see. Ezra shrugged and eased the car to the turning lane, making the right that Aria had instructed him to take and rolled to a halt in front of an old, brick building.

She was out of the car before Ezra had time to unbuckle his seatbelt. He laughed as he slid out of his car and followed her eager, bouncing frame up the cracked concrete steps. He held the door open for her and followed her into the cool, well lit building.

“Hello, can I help you?” The friendly, wrinkled face peered at them from behind the computer monitor. Her large, red rimmed glasses hung around her neck by a green beaded string.

“Hi um…” Aria’s voice betrayed her. She was scared. This was only one of many steps she would have to take to be accepted back into society and she found it terrifying.

“We were wondering if we could get an application for the librarian position,” Ezra spoke up, narrowing his eyes in Aria’s direction as he tried to piece together her sudden shyness.

“How lovely! I haven’t had a single person inquire about the position and I was beginning to wonder if any would by the time I retire in July,” She beamed, digging around in one of the desk drawers and producing a single sheet of paper that she passed to Ezra.

“Do you have a pen?” He inquired, taking the one she offered and giving it to Aria. She placed the application on the counter and started to fill it out, stopping to stare at the line that asked for a phone number.

“Ezra? What’s your phone number?” Ezra looked over at her in surprise, only then remembering that he had not followed through with his plan to get her a phone. He added it to his list of things to do on their way back to the city along with stopping to buy her some basic toiletries.

“347-555-0489,” He rattled off, watching as she wrote it down. It didn’t take her much longer to finish her application, handing it back over to the old woman.

“Thank you! Would you like a tour?” She offered, all too ready to assist her _only_ prospect of a replacement.

“Yes, please,” Aria’s voice was barely above a whisper and the older woman had to strain to hear.

The two took less than an hour to complete. The building was rather small, but it had recently been upgraded. The walls were stacked from top to bottom with various books and there was a reading section for younger children. Aria found that she already loved the place.

“Do you think you’ll like it there?” Ezra asked as they were pulling back onto the highway.

“I love it.” Her eyes were shining brightly and a huge grin covered her face, “I hope I get the job.”

“I think you will,” Ezra said with certainty, keeping his eyes on the road, “We’re going to stop and stock up on some things for you.”

“You don’t have to.” Ezra sighed. Not this battle again. Aria was adamant that he not buy anything for her, but he couldn’t let her go without. Whatever it was that they had going on, he couldn’t do that to her.

“You need those things, Aria. I’m also getting you a phone and before you protest –you’re going to need it, trust me.”

Aria sighed and folded her arms under her chest, staring out the window at the passing traffic. Arguing with Ezra was becoming increasingly frustrating. The most frustrating part of her was that she still was unsure of what to make of their relationship. It felt too easy to fall into that old rhythm with Ezra, but the part of her that had hated and berated what she had become knew that she couldn’t go back to how it was.

 

 

“I like this one,” Aria announced, holding up an older, flip-phone. Ezra shook his head. She was not making this easy on him. So far she had refused to even glance at the smartphones – wanting to find something that was cheap.

“Aria, if you do not put that down,” Ezra warned, breathing a sigh of relief when she finally put the phone back in its place and turned to look at him.

“I don’t want you spending a lot of money,” She huffed, staring him down. She was determined to get her way. Unfortunately for her, so was Ezra.

“It’s my money and if I want to spend it, I will,” He argued, keeping his tone level, “I want you to have a phone that you will be able to _use_.”

“I can _use_ a flip-phone just fine.” She narrowed her gaze and shook her head, tossing her hair.

“Not efficiently. You’re getting a smartphone.” She huffed, annoyed at his insistence and headed to the other side of the store. Without looking, she pointed silently to the iPhone display. Ezra shook his head and called for a salesman. He made the purchase as quickly as possible and carried it out to the car behind a sullen Aria.

In the vehicle, he handed the phone to Aria before starting the car and buckling in. He watched Aria out of the corner of his eye as he backed up. She was staring at the phone, but not touching it.

“It won’t hurt you,” He told her, easing back onto the highway. She glared at him, remaining tight lipped.

The ride home was long and silent.

 

 

           


	8. Masquerade

**New York City; May, 2013 –**

“Aria!” Ezra banged his open hand against the wooden door having given up all attempts of twisting the brass doorknob. The loud thumping of the stereo from inside the bedroom drowned out any and all attempts at getting the small brunette’s attention.

Sighing in frustration, Ezra raked his hands through his hair before stomping toward the utility closet off his laundry room. Slamming the door open, he rummaged for a screwdriver – triumphantly heading back down the hall and to Aria’s room once he found one.

Ezra, unsteady with the screwdriver, clumsily loosened the screws around the doorknob until he was able to pull the device from the door. He put his hands to the solid surface and gave a tiny shove, narrowing his eyes when the door failed to budge. Kneeling to peep through the hole made by the missing device, Ezra peered into the room, sighing when he saw the top of the black colored dresser pressed against the door.

“Aria, I will tear down this door if I have to,” He threatened, standing from his position and waiting for a response with his head leant against the door. The thumping from the other side only grew louder in response. Ezra groaned and knocked his head against the door before turning his screwdriver on the hinge at the top of the door, placing the tip into the screw.

He had made one short turn of the screw before the door swung open and bounced off his shoulder. Peering around the edge, he saw Aria, sans makeup with hair matted and unwashed, glaring at him – her arms crossed under her chest. She looked pointedly at the screwdriver dangling from his right hand, her amber eyes hardening at the sight.

“What the hell are you doing?” She demanded, her voice cracking on the last syllable and turning into a mousy shriek.

“I could ask you the same.” Ezra’s voice remained level, betraying no emotion. He watched as Aria continued to glare at him, holding his gaze before flouncing back into her room. Ezra followed her, taking in a deep breath and a lungful of the pungent smell lingering in the air.

“Are you smoking weed in here?” He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“So what?” Her insolent response caught Ezra off guard and he stood with his mouth flapping like a fish out of water. This new Aria was a far cry from the girl he remembered.

“Aria, I’m not going to lecture you on the reasons why you shouldn’t be doing this. I think you already know why you shouldn’t. The girl I know would at least have a reason for doing something so fucking stupid.” She bowed her head and wrapped her arms around her tiny frame as if protecting herself from his low spoken, hateful words.

“You don’t know what I’ve been through.” She spoke around the lump in her throat, her voice quivering with unshed tears.

“Then _tell_ me. I will never know if you continue this…this erratic behavior. I can’t help you unless you let me, Aria.” He ran a hand over his face, slumping against the wall – exhausted by the unexpected early morning fight with his former girlfriend.

Aria wiped at the tears on her cheeks, but to no avail. The harder she wiped the more tears that fell. She sighed and plopped herself on the edge of the soft mattress, bowing her head. The two stayed like that, unmoving and unspeaking until the sound of Ezra’s phone ringing interrupted their moment of silence.

Ezra sighed in frustration before pulling the device from his pocket and glaring at the caller i.d. Sliding his finger across the screen, he growled into the phone, “What do you want?”

“Why hello sunshine. May I ask who rained on your parade?” Hardy’s cheerful voice did nothing to ease Ezra’s anger at the interruption.

“You.”

“Ouch. That hurt,” Hardy chuckled, refusing to allow Ezra’s bad mood to affect him. “Where are you? School starts in ten minutes.”

Ezra’s eyes opened wide at the realization that it was Monday. Dealing with Aria had caused him to forget about work. Dealing with Aria caused him to forget about the outside world _most_ of the time. Pulling the phone from his ear, he pressed the mute button before letting loose a string of curses:

“Fuck fuck fuck. How the hell did I forget about work?”

Aria raised her head at the sound of Ezra’s many expletives and watched as he banged his head against the wall before raising his phone back to his ear.

“I’m sick, man. I won’t be in.”

“You don’t sound sick.” Hardy’s voice sounded accusatory.

“Hardy, you’re supposed to be my friend. Tell them I’m sick.”

“It’s her isn’t it?”

“Hardy,” Ezra began, his tone warning Hardy to back off.

“Look, Ezra, I’ll tell them you’re sick because you’re my friend, but once is it. I’m not going to continue giving excuses for her.” Hardy didn’t wait for a response, choosing to end the call quickly after spitting out his sentence.

“You aren’t going to work?” Aria’s hopeful tone caught Ezra off guard for the second time that day. He nodded his response and slid his phone back into the pocket of his grey sweats.

“Sit?” She offered, patting the space beside her on the mattress. Ezra glanced up hesitantly before making his way to her side, slowly lowering his body weight to the soft bed.

“Ezra…why is this harder than I thought it would be?” She gave a nervous laugh, glancing up into his blue eyes as her sight blurred with more tears. “I loved college at first. It was new and different. It was an escape from…”

“You don’t have to say it.”

“No. I can.” She wiped at more tears. “At first it was an escape from what happened in Rosewood. From all that –A stuff. She…he…it…stopped sending messages when I went to college. I thought it was over.”

“It wasn’t?” Ezra questioned, fury already building in his eyes at the thought that someone had begun to threaten her again.

“No,” She admitted in a small voice. “I made new friends. My roommate became my _best_ friend. She was this quirky combination of Hanna and Spencer. We went to a party one night before midterms. She got drunk. I got drunk. I ended up driving us home…I didn’t find out until later that someone had laced my drink...”

“What?”

“I wrecked, Ezra. I _killed_ her. A few of our friends got to the crash before the cops did. There wasn’t anything we could do for her, but for me…they staged it so that the cops would think she was driving. It was all a lie.

“A month after that happened, I got a text. It was from –A. I started doing drugs to escape from the constant torture and guilt.”

Tears began to fall harder and faster as Aria finished her story. Ezra wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him and letting her rest her head against his chest.

“I killed her. Me.”

“Shh. It was an accident, Aria.” Ezra stroked her hair, making humming noises as he attempted to soothe her.

Aria allowed herself to be lulled into a semi-tranquil state by the rhythm of Ezra’s beating heart. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier with each passing second until she could barely hold her eyes open any longer. Moments later, she was quietly snoring as she fell into dreamland.

Ezra gently laid her back against her pillows and pulled the blanket over her before heading back to the kitchen and his laptop that sat on the island. He poured himself a cup of coffee and pulled a barstool up to the computer, booting it up and beginning his long afternoon full of Google and newspaper websites.

 

 


	9. How To Save A Life

**New York City; June, 2013 –**

“This is ridiculous,” Aria scoffed, crossing her arms under her chest and glaring at Ezra as he held the wooden door open for her.

“Aria,” Ezra sighed, pointedly looking at her as he continued to hold the door, Dr. Howard Bern, PhD plastered on the frosted glass, open for her.

“I don’t need to see a therapist,” She spat, stomping past him into the cool office. The humming of the air conditioner set up a nice, steady background noise as Aria flopped into a large, uncomfortable waiting chair.

“No? Because locking yourself in a dark room, refusing to eat for days at a time, smoking pot, and forgetting about personal hygiene are all things that completely normal, sane people do,” Ezra remarked before walking toward the receptionist.

Aria watched as he exchanged a few words with the young woman – narrowing her eyes at his back. There were some days, like today, that she questioned her decision to stay in New York and let Ezra help her get back on her feet. He pushed her harder than anyone else did and he refused to let her fall back into oblivion when it got to be too much; when falling into oblivion was the only thing she wanted to do.

Then there were days, when she allowed herself to think clearly, that she knew she would have easily fallen back into her old habits or worse if it hadn’t been for Ezra. He pulled her back from the edge before she had the chance to fall. He didn’t walk away even when she fought him.

“She said he’ll be ready in a few minutes,” Ezra announced, slipping into the seat beside Aria and glancing at the magazine choices on the table. Many tabloids boasting the latest of celebrity gossip, but nothing he was interested in. He groaned and began shuffling through the magazines, hoping to find something more interesting on the bottom.

“Do I have to do this?”

Ezra stopped his shuffling to look up at Aria. Her downcast eyes were staring at the linoleum floor and she had her arms wrapped around her small frame.

“Just give it a shot, Aria,” He sighed, turning his gaze back to the pile of magazines. The argument over therapy had begun nearly a week ago and Ezra was tired already of the endless fighting. Aria was slow to open up to him, but at least she was willing – she wasn’t willing to open up to a stranger.

“Aria?” She groaned and pulled herself from her chair when the middle-aged man with thinning hair opened the door and said her name. She slowly trudged across the floor and past the man, shaking her head at the sight of two large, black leather chairs sitting across from each other.

“How original,” She observed, staking her claim on the chair that set in front of the large window, bathed in sunlight.

“So is this the part where I blab to you about everything that has ever happened to me?” Aria spat her words as Dr. Bern took the seat across from her. Her hostile tone caused a small smile to form on the man’s otherwise blank face as he made a note on the clipboard in his lap.

“This is the part where you speak or don’t speak – it’s up to you.”

“It’s up to me?” The cynicism in her voice didn’t go unnoticed and once again the doctor’s pen scratched across his paper – making some comment that she could not see.

“You choose what we do or do not speak about.”

“If I make all the choices, then what is the point of therapy? Better yet, why am I here?”

“Therapy can only help you if you are willing to let it help.”

“Then this can be the part where we sit here staring at each other?”

Dr. Bern heaved a large sigh and adjusted his square frames before trying a new tactic with his uncooperating patient: “Either way, I still get paid.”

Aria lowered her eyes and drew her knees to her chest, hugging her legs as she contemplated what the psychologist had just said. Despite how much she fought against therapy and her desire to make this as hard as possible for her therapist she couldn’t allow Ezra to pay the kind of money he was paying for her to sit and stare at some old man.

She felt the tears building and a lump forming in her throat as she made up her mind.

“Where do we start?” She sounded defeated – all of the fight having gone out of her at the mention of Ezra throwing away his hard earned money for her.

“Wherever you want to start.”

Aria glared at the doctor again – he wasn’t making this easy for her. She didn’t know where to start. There was no _good_ place she could start at – not without lying and she didn’t think lying would go over too well in therapy.

“Would it help if I asked questions?”

“Yes.”

“Alright,” Dr. Bern nodded, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “Any question you are uncomfortable with, we can skip.”

He waited until Aria had nodded before asking his first question, “Why New York?”

“Huh?” Aria narrowed her eyes at the unexpected question.

“Why did you choose New York?”

“I’ve always liked New York,” She answered, deciding that it was a harmless question.

“Why else?” He pushed, not buying her answer as the whole truth. There was more to her decision.

“It was an escape from my parents, from my hometown.”

“Why did you feel the need to leave your parents?”

She raised her head to look at him – at least he hadn’t asked why she had felt the need to leave Rosewood. That would have undoubtly been a more difficult question to answer than her need for distance from her parents.

“I love my parents,” She began, watching as Dr. Bern nodded along – probably having heard that line countless other times, “but things went downhill with them when I told them about my boyfriend. There were fights and for a while I wasn’t allowed to leave the house without them. I wanted out. I wanted my freedom.”

“Is your boyfriend the reason you had to leave your hometown?” She inwardly groaned at the question. Her need to leave Rosewood was much more complicated than that. She couldn’t be expected to sum it all up into one sentence – or boil the reason down to one.

“He was part of the reason. People in our town weren’t supportive of our relationship because of the way it began.”

“Surely you had some support,” Dr. Bern probed, watching Aria’s face for her reaction.

“My friends were supportive – when I told them.” He nodded, making more notes on his paper as Aria glanced at the clock.

“One hour, right?” She asked, watching the second hand.

“Yes.”

“So I can go?” Dr. Bern turned his gaze to the clock, surprised to see that the session was over. He had spent more time than he would have liked convincing Aria to speak.

“You may go.”

Aria heaved a sigh of relief before bouncing from the room. Ezra’s attention snapped to his rapidly moving ex as she quickly made her way into the waiting room and stood impatiently in front of him.

“Ready?” He asked, closing the copy of _National Geographic_ and laying it on the table before standing and allowing Aria to lead the way out of the office.

“How did it go?” He decided to ask once they were several blocks from the building.

“I don’t like it.” She scrunched her nose at the end of her comment, coming to a halt in front of a frozen yogurt shop.

“Are you going back?” Ezra noticed Aria eyeing the building – she had a thing for the sugary sweet treat.

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll buy you yogurt if you promise me you’ll go to the next session.”

“Fine,” She sighed, allowing him to lead her into the building.

 

“This is good,” Aria commented around a mouthful of frozen yogurt and gummy bears.

“You say that every time,” Ezra grinned, raising a hand to wipe away the yogurt stubbornly clinging to the side of Aria’s mouth.

“Because it’s good every time,” Aria laughed, walking beside Ezra through the park.

“I don’t get how you can have this every day and still be okay with it.”

“That’s because you’re anti-sugar.”

“I’m not anti-sugar. I’m anti-brainfreeze,” He winked, throwing his empty cup in the nearest trash bin.

“Grouch.” Aria stuck her tongue out at him, enjoying the carefree moment she found herself in with him.

“Brat,” He returned, sticking his tongue out as well. The two began laughing at one another, drawing the attention of the group passing them.

“I think they may have found us slightly annoying,” Aria giggled once they had passed the other group.

“Or they were jealous that they aren’t in the company of such a beautiful woman.”

Aria felt her face grow hot at Ezra’s comment. Since when was he so smooth? He said it as if it were no big deal – as if he had been thinking it all day. She didn’t know what to say in return.

The awkward silence followed them the rest of the way back to Ezra’s apartment.


End file.
